The real stories from inside the F1 paddock

Pic signs for Marussia… and other stories

It is yet to be officially confirmed but I am reliably assured that Charles Pic has signed to drive for Marussia Racing in 2012, with an option to stay with the team in 2013. Pic was due to test for both Virgin and Team Lotus this week, but I hear that the latter test has now been called off as a result of the deal being done. Timo Glock is already under contract to the team and will be Pic’s team-mate – unless one of the big teams makes him an offer, in which case I believe he has a contract that would allow him to leave. I am not sure how one defines a top team (probably based on the results of the previous season), but he could probably leave if offered a drive with Lotus Renault GP. That might leave the slim possibility that Jerome d’Ambrosio could stay at Marussia next year. The team likes him and I think he has been one of the quiet revelations of the year. Matching Glock when one had no F1 experience is no mean achievement.

Sadly, I think Lotus Renault GP is looking more and more towards a pairing of Vitaly Petrov/Romain Grosjean, and so Jerome will need to look elsewhere, and without money behind him it is going to be tough to get a job. He deserves better. I feel much the same way about Adrian Sutil. There is no doubt he is quick and he had ceased to be as wild as he used to be, but he is not seen as a very technical driver, and his adventures in China this year will not help his cause. Nonetheless he deserves a drive. I guess that he is probably number three on the wish list at Williams, behind Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello, but the team’s target really does seem to be the Finn. I hear that he is looking for equity in the team (which Sir Frank Williams is not going to give him, no matter how much money he may bring from his financial backers). Frank does not necessarily need the money, but the fact that he has gone back to Qatar after Dubai suggests that there are still is to be dotted and ts to be crossed on the deal with QNB.

French fans are hoping that there could be at least one or two Frenchmen in F1 next year with Jean Eric Vergne believed to be a strong possibility for a ride with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2012 and Grosjean looking increasingly likely to land a drive with Lotus Renault GP. The fourth Frenchman on the market is Ferrari test driver Jules Bianchi, who has been mentioned in connection with a couple of teams. With interest in F1 in France reviving and more input from Renault, there is a strong case for the return of a French GP. There is a plan for an event at Paul Ricard to alternate with the Belgian GP, but this is not expected to be settled until after the forthcoming French elections next year.

One point of interest in Abu Dhabi was the status of Scuderia Toro Rosso. The team was inundated with guests from Aabar, which is (ostensibly) just a sponsor. From what I hear the deal is rather more complicated than it appears. The word on the street is that Aabar wants to buy a chunk of the main Red Bull drinks company. Red Bull is a vast and very successful business, but the fascinating thing about it is that it is not owned by Dietrich Mateschitz, the man who takes all the credit for the success. In truth the firm is split 49-49 between Mateschitz and Thailand’s Chaleo Yoovidhya, who marketed the original Krating Daeng, on which Red Bull is based. They gave the remaining two percent to Chaleo’s son Chalerm, because he had introduced the two, but it was agreed that Mateschitz would run the company everywhere but in Asia. In the Asian markets Krating Daeng continues to be sold, but there is plenty of potential to expand sales. So perhaps Aaabar is keen to buy the Thai end of the operation and want the Italian team to promote the product in that region… This could have any number of effects on future driver choice.

It is perhaps worth noting that last weekend in Suzuka, the final round of the KF1 World Karting Championship resulted in youngster Nyck de Vries winning the title. He is already part of the McLaren young driver scheme. The runner-up in the title race was an Anglo-Thai racing driver called Alexander Albon, who is the second youngest driver in KF1 this year. Albon is already sponsored by Red Bull, and Chalerm Yoovidhya is a big fan… It will at least four or five years before either driver is ready for F1 but remember both names.

I really feel that Renault don’t need another rookie next season and who ever gets the job needs to be given a full season as long as they aren’t completely dreadful. The talk about a phased return for Kubica isn’t going to help a rookie settle into the team and we could see yet another driver exit mid season before we got to see what they could do. Don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of Kubica but I would rather see him being given Friday practice time ahead of a full come back in 2013 rather than be thrown unprepared into the car and destabilise a team that really needs a period of stability. It would mean that next winter the team could pick the best two of the three drivers as Petrov’s contract would also be up for renewal.

Do not only remember Nyck de Vries who is a real raw diamond awaiting to shine. But also remember the name of Max verstappen, son of ex-F1 driver Jos Verstappen. Both drivers are considered as the “hope of Dutch racing”. Ofcourse the Netherlands produced respectable and fast drivers like Tom Coronel (WTCC), Jeroen and Sebastian Bleekemolen (various) and good old Jan Lammers. But it seems that Nyck and Max are cream of the crop.

Further on I do think the Williams/Raikkonen case is held back by the simple fact that both team and driver still needs to work the details. It is only logic sense that Raikkonen will join Williams for both sides.
Williams grows its exposure and fansbase all over the world. On various Williams forums (Im a Williams fan ever since 1991) and communities the fanbase has exploded with Raikkonen fans. Williams have missed out on the digital age since their latest big success was back in 1997 when the internet and social media where not that big as they are now. Williams therefor missed out on expanding towards the new fans all over the world that Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull did. With Raikkonen it will be an immediate merchandise hit. And face the fact, you can do worse then hiring a driver who brings in attention from sponsors and fans, who has won 18 times over 62 podium finishes.
Raikkonen will want to join to get in the picture again. His adventures in various motorsports have not given him a big amount of success. And somewhere in my grey mass that they call a brain is still the quote of Raikkonen stating he wants to drive the 24hrs of Le Mans and the Williams/Jaguar/Tata deal on Le Mans. But thats only wishfull thinking maybe.

Does Bernie still own the Le Castellet circuit, hotel, airport and estate? What price would he then set on behalf of FOM, to pay for the privilege of running the French GP – interesting conflict of interest. In addition, the access to the circuit remains pretty dreadful, what with the never ending road works in Toulon and Marseille. Last year when we were diverted to Le Castellet airport due to military exercises at Toulon-Hyères, it took us 90 minutes to reach Toulon Airport, where our cars were parked and it’s only 50km away.

Noted in GP+, a photo of Niki Lauda wearing an Aabar baseball cap – he has always had his cap heavily sponsored – Gerhard Berger, former half-owner of Toro Rosso, and both fellow Austrians of Mateschitz, in discussion with Bernie Ecclestone. One can speculate ….

Now THIS is why Joe’s blog is the stuff. Not the press releases about drivers staying with the team, but the proper, analytical posts (and the musings. Oh the musings, how were the flights Joe? Did Em…er…the airline take good care of you?)

I realise that Sutil’s cash comes nothing close to Maldonado’s but would it be possible for Williams to get Sutil *and* Raikkonen?

Maldonado’s proven himself to be a little bit of a disappointment/embarrassment to his country. Frankly, I think PDVSA would get better brand exposure without that aggressive loser retiring in every grand prix.

But have to disagree on the point that FW doesn’t ‘really need the money’, I’m pretty sure none of the capital raised on the Frankfurt share issue actually went to the team. In effect Williams F1 were as cash strapped after the floatation as they were before.

And the one thing you can say regarding Williams is that the lack of investment is patently obvious on track.

On the alternating French/Belgium report, do we happen to know who ‘owns’ the Paul Ricard circuit?

These drives are all super-important, given how many top seats are coming up in 2013 – Schumi, Massa, Webber – you’d guess that they’ll all probably be off in a year’s time. And there’s never been so much talent around.

Seems hard to believe that Renault would be happy with Petrov-Grosjean – they must still be crossing their fingers for RK.

Joe, I’d be interested to hear how you see the driver situation at TR. Buemi and Alguersuari both seem to be doing a good job, Ricciardo is champing at the bit and looking good at HRT, and now there’s Vergne as well. Any clues for us ?

Got to feel for D’Ambrosio. Didn’t expect much from him, but he’s had a pretty impressive season, actually ahead of Timo in the standings (thanks to some 14th places early in the season). You can’t expect much more.
To be honest Pic wasn’t on my radar, with some solid if unspectacular results in junior series (4th in GP2, 3rd FR 3.5).
Still, I think I’m right in saying D’Ambrosio replaced Di Grassi thanks to some funding, so what goes around….
You’d think he would of gotten some Custard sponsorship by now though ;)

Why is there no media coverage of the young driver test? Is no one interested in the stars of the future (and a few who will only be in F1 if they are pay drivers)?
There’s not even any live timing.
The only info is coming from the lower teams’ twitter accounts.

A misleading view you appear to have about Dietrich Mateschitz and Red Bull.

You say that Red Bull “is not owned by Mateschitz, the man who takes all the credit for the success”. Not a ‘majority owner’ you should say. He owns 49% of the company which makes him an owner and is also a significant stake to own in any major company.

As I understand it Red Bull was nothing more than a popular domestic drink in Thailand (Krateng Daeng) before Mateschitz came along. It was Mateschitz and his marketing savvy that turned it into a multi-billion dollar international brand.

I also understand that Mateschitz is quite modest given his achievements and I doubt if he would ever lay claim to “all the credit for the success”.

It’s a bit of a bolt from the blue, but Virgin/Marussia do seem to be one of the better teams for giving young drivers a shot so fair play to them. It certainly shakes up the silly season a bit.

Speaking of which, I keep reading the stories regarding Williams and keep thinking the same thing: why doesn’t Williams sign Raikkonen and Barrichello for its race seats and keep Maldonado as reserve/practice session driver? Raikkonen brings raw speed and potential investor appeal, Barrichello brings experience and technical nous as well as speed and consistency, and Maldonado brings finance while gaining a chance to develop as a driver. That way the team has the funds it needs, but doesn’t do so at the expense of car development and thereby performance. Makes sense to me at least – unless of course there’s some clause in the PDVSA deal, but most things can be negotiated. Any idea how likely that scenario would be Joe?

Thanks for kudos you gave Jerome d’Ambrosio – he’s been one of the most anonymous rookies of recent years yet I too think he’s done an impressive job at Marussia Virgin. I hope he gets another chance in F1 – whether it be 2012 or beyond.

I must admit I was surprised to read you speaking up for Adrian Sutil’s chances next season too though. From what you have said about his technical ability I always got the impression you didn’t rate him. His second half of the season has built on his good work in 2010 but I agree that the incident in China still hovers over him.